1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connection devices and more particularly, to a card connector that has means to protect the metal terminals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, there are four types of commercial memory cards, including MS (Memory Stick), SD (Secure Digital), MMC (Multi-Media Card), and XD (extreme Digital). To facilitate the use of different memory cards, various multi-in-one card connectors are disclosed. A multi-in-one card connector generally has multiple sets of metal terminals mounted inside the housing at different locations corresponding to the contact ends of different memory cards so that different memory cards are insertable into the card connector.
In a multi-in-one card connector, all the metal terminals extend to the inside of the housing. When inserting one particular memory card into the housing, it may rub on or hit the sets of metal terminals that do not match accidentally, causing these metal terminals to be biased and affecting normal functioning of the card connector. Taiwan Patent Number M249,333 teaches the use of metal terminal protection means to prevent the aforesaid problem. According to this design, a pivoted safety cover is provided. The safety cover is biased to press on the other metal terminals that do not match upon insertion of one memory card. Therefore, the inserted memory card touches only the matching set of metal terminals, and the other sets of metal terminals are well protected.
However, because the safety cover of the aforesaid design is pivoted to the bottom housing of the card connector, it may wear quickly with a long time use. When the safety cover starts to wear, it may be unable to hold down the non-matching metal terminals or unable to return to its normal position. In this case, the card connector becomes useless.